It's 4:30am, you're loading your van, and the depot is loud, cold, and miserable. Popping in your earbuds and listening to music or a podcast makes the sort bearable. Most drivers have done it. But here's the problem: a courier depot is one of the most dangerous workplaces you'll set foot in. Forklifts, pallet jacks, reversing vans, conveyor belts, and heavy freight moving in every direction — and you can't hear any of it with headphones in.
Why It's Dangerous
Forklifts. The biggest killer in warehouse environments. Forklifts are heavy, fast, and the drivers have limited visibility — especially when carrying loads. They rely on horns and verbal warnings to alert pedestrians. If you can't hear the horn, you can't react. According to Safe Work Australia warehousing safety, the transport and warehousing industry has one of the highest serious injury rates of any sector. A significant portion of those injuries involve interactions between pedestrians and mobile plant.
Reversing vehicles. Vans reversing into loading bays, trucks manoeuvring in tight spaces — they all have reversing beepers for a reason. With headphones in, you won't hear them. And reversing drivers often can't see you if you're in their blind spot.
Verbal warnings. "Heads up!" "Behind you!" "Forklift coming through!" — these warnings happen constantly in a busy depot. With music playing, you miss them entirely. One missed shout could be the difference between stepping aside and being hit.
Falling freight. Boxes fall off belts, slide off stacks, and get knocked off cages constantly during the morning sort. Without headphones, you hear the thud, you look down, you step around it. With headphones, you don't hear it hit the ground, you walk back with an armful of parcels, and you trip over it. Drivers have broken wrists, sprained ankles, and injured their backs from exactly this scenario — tripping over freight they didn't hear fall because they had music playing.
Situational awareness. Even without specific warnings, your ears give you constant information about the environment. The whine of a forklift motor, the beep-beep of a reversing van, the rattle of a pallet jack — these background sounds help your brain track hazards you can't see. Headphones eliminate this awareness completely.
What the Rules Say
Most depots explicitly ban headphones and earbuds in the warehouse and loading areas. It's usually in the site induction and the safety rules posted at the entry. Ignoring this rule is a disciplinary issue — and if you're injured while wearing headphones against site rules, it can complicate your workers' compensation claim.
Even if your depot doesn't have a specific policy, wearing headphones in an active loading area is a breach of your general duty of care to yourself and others under workplace health and safety law.
Alternatives
One earbud only. Some depots allow a single earbud at low volume. This gives you some audio entertainment while keeping one ear open for warnings. Check your depot's policy before assuming this is okay.
Bone conduction headphones. These sit outside your ears and transmit sound through your cheekbones. They leave your ear canals completely open, so you can hear ambient noise and warnings while still listening to audio. Brands like Shokz make models designed for exactly this use case.
Save it for the van. Once you're loaded and on the road, headphones are your choice (one ear only while driving — two earbuds while driving is illegal in most states). The depot is 30–60 minutes of your day. The music can wait.